wealth

Being born under the dragon sign of the Chinese zodiac is considered to be the luckiest start in life one can have. Dragon babies were so sought after in 2012 – the most recent window of opportunity – that some would-be parents went to extraordinary lengths to make sure they had one.

Evidence suggests those endeavours could yet pay off. According to a (not very) scientific piece of research from Wealth-X, dragons are indeed more likely to end up sitting on (or rather earning) vast piles of gold. Read more

Voting is already underway in the state of Maharashtra, with citizens in the city of Mumbai casting their ballot next week.

And to stir things up, National Election Watch has released a new report analysing the financial and criminal records of candidates in the region. The questionable past of many leading figures in Indian politics is, sadly, old news. But the fact that organisations are digging up such detailed information on would-be leaders is a sign of progress in the world’s largest democracy, where governance has become the issue of the day.Read more

Three major private banks have closed operations in India in recent months, as cultural and regulatory challenges derail groups initially drawn by growing wealth in Asia’s third largest economy.

An emerging market with a high savings rate, a collection of some of the world’s most flamboyant businessmen, and economic growth hovering around 5 per cent despite a sharp slowdown, India should be a gold mine for the private banking industry. Read more

A new report from WealthInsight puts the number at 195, much higher than estimates by other media. Overall, China’s rich are set to grow fast in the next five years – just not as fast as they did in the last five. Read more

Russian collectors are a growing force on the booming global art market, where prices for trophy works are beating all-time records. But it is Russian art that will take centre stage next week as leading auction houses in London offer an eclectic range of important works from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Russian art is not yet fully appreciated by international connoisseurs. But rich Russians can’t get enough of it. They’re prepared to fork out huge sums for a slice of their national heritage. Read more

Despite its current financial woes, Slovenia is the most prosperous country in Emerging Europe, according to the latest annual prosperity index from the Legatum Institute. Armenia comes in last.

While income is an important part of prosperity, the institute has broadened the definition to take into account of some of the non-material things that make life worth living, as defined in sub-indices such as “Safety & Security”, “Personal Freedom”, “Social Capital”, “Education”, among others. Read more

Aside from some dynastic billionaires, until recently new wealth was viewed with suspicion in Colombia, being a possible result of drug trafficking.

But times seem to have changed. Although drug kingpins still exist, they are less conspicuous – gone are the times of Pablo Escobar’s hippos and Rasguño’s Ferraris – while legitimate fortunes appear to be on the rise. That’s according to WealthInsight, a research company, that claims that in recent times Colombia has created millionaires quicker than Brazil and Mexico. Read more

Twice in the last few years, Zong Qinghou of Wahaha, China’s drinks king, has been the country’s richest man. This year, according to the Hurun Rich List released today, his fortune has swelled by half.

But despite that, he’s lost pride of place to a man who doesn’t make much of anything – except making sure that people around the world have a place to watch movies, shop and buy yachts. Read more

Wealthy Russians buying mansions overseas is hardly new: just see London. Now Cape Town is becoming one of the target cities, spurred by the lifestyle and scenery – and helped by the rand’s decline that is making high-end property that bit cheaper.

Luxury property giants Sotheby’s International Realty in South Africa says buyers from Germany and England are still interested, but the Russians are beginning to get noticed as well. Read more

Private wealth in the Gulf states has grown 7 per cent over the past year amid strong oil revenues and rebounding equity markets, but the region continues to harbour some of the world’s starkest wealth disparities, a new study shows, reports Simeon Kerr.

Wealth in the broader Middle East and Africa has risen from $4.4tn in 2011 to a forecast $4.8tn in 2012, putting it in the “same ballpark” as global growth of 8 per cent in the same period, says Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth Report 2013. Read more

Impact investing is a way of doing good while not giving your money away for good. The FT’s Paul J Davies talks to fundraisers and entrepreneurs about bringing socially conscious investing to the wealthy of Asia.

Multinationals are never slow to spot a branding opportunity. Everywhere from the local supermarket to the Olympic Games has become familiar territory. But India has managed to come up with a new possibility – the wedding reception.

Another day, another rich Chinese buys a French vineyard? Much as they did with Chinese art, Chinese investors are convinced they are onto a good thing with French red wine: they have bought some 30 to 40 vineyards in Bordeaux in the past two years, since China became the French region’s largest export market.

Asia’s rich now outnumber those in both the US and Europe. For high-end banks and other companies, Asia’s growing number of entrepreneurs are a significant source of new business. The FT’s Tom Griggs investigates.

Now, Chinese academics have published evidence which suggests that the rich are right to be concerned. Hurun-listed entrepreneurs are more likely to be arrested than their unlisted rivals – and, whether or not they are taken away for questioning, the mere fear that they might be can hit their share prices. Moral for investors – sell the listed, buy the unlisted. Read more

Here’s another reminder that this is the Asian century. There are now more millionaires there than in North America, according to the latest World Wealth Report.

Given the size of China’s population and a 9.2 per cent growth in GDP last year, it is not surprising that many of the 3.4m Asian millionaires are found there. The number of people in China with more than $1m for investment rose 5.2 per cent from 2010 to 562,400 last year, according to the survey by CapGemini and RBC Wealth Management. Read more

The world’s population of rich people stayed roughly equal at 11m in 2011, according to the report published on Tuesday. But those people’s aggregate investable wealth by asset value slid 1.7 per cent to $42tn. Read more

Being a millionaire isn’t what it used to be. In their new 2012 Wealth Report, the property consultancy Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank take a look at the rise of the centa-millionaires of the world – those with at least $100m in liquid assets.

More centa-millionaires are popping up across the world thanks to what the report says is the central trend dominating the world’s prime property markets: “the relentless growth of ‘plutonomy’ economics, a phenomenon that sees the wealth of the richest 1 per cent growing far quicker than that of the general population.” Read more